Churches want to plant garden at County Home

By Barbara Harrington
Senior Writer
At the March 2 supervisors’ meeting, board attorney John Creekmore proposed a memorandum of agreement with Holley Performance in applying for a CDBG grant for roof repairs of the Holley facility.
The building is owned jointly by the county and the city of Aberdeen. He said this agreement sets out all parties’ responsibilities. One of Holley’s is to provide 55 jobs, with 51 percent to be held by low and moderate income families. District 2 supervisor Billy Kirkpatrick asked if there is a match to the grant. Chancery clerk Ronnie Boozer said there is and county administrator Sonny Clay said it is 10 percent, which could be shared by the city and county. Clay said the local part would be $60,000. The resolution would also include authority to request that TVA in-lieu funds be used to cover the county’s portion of the match. The county would ask for up to $60,000 with the city reimbursing the county for its share.
In other business
n Boozer said the Monroe County Home is at capacity, with 12 residents. Clay said someone had called him about churches wanting to plant a garden at the county home. He said this would give the residents a therapeutic activity to participate in and also provide fresh vegetables for them to eat.
n Sheriff Andy Hood reported that collections for housing inmates is slow in coming. He said more than $270,000 is outstanding in inmate housing, with $250,000 of that from the state.
n Ware said he had been contacted concerning the employment office, located in Amory. Some people who had gone there had called him, saying they were getting nowhere with their claims, that they were either being sent to Tupelo or Columbus or being given a toll-free number to call and still getting no results. Ware said if people don’t have a job they can’t afford to drive here and there for help. “I told them I’d ask about it,” Ware said. Clay said he would contact the office to find out if anything can be done locally.
n The board reappointed Skip Miles to serve a five-year term as a commissioner of the Tennessee Valley Regional Housing Authority.